Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) as a Viable Methodology - 13200 Words

Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) as a Viable Methodology for Knowledge Engineering: A Literature Review (Research Paper Sample) Content: Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) as a Viable Methodology for Knowledge Engineering: A Literature ReviewChukwunonso, F.*, Ibrahim, R.* and Selamat, A.** Department of Information Systems, Faculty of Computing, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, MalaysiaArticle Info ABSTRACT Article history:Received Jun 12th, 201xRevised Aug 20th, 201xAccepted Aug 26th, 201x This paper presents a baseline perspective of knowledge engineering (KE) methodologies by taking a critical look at the methodological approaches currently used in knowledge engineering domain. A literature review bordering on; the knowledge role concept, knowledge elicitation techniques, and ontological approaches employed in knowledge engineering for the construction of knowledge-based systems (KBSs) was carried out. Journal and conference articles were sourced from multiple journals and research databases and a multi-step manual cross-checking based on carefully selected extraction and quality criteria were employed. The findings of the study show that the existing methodological approaches employed for constructing KBSs in KE is highly deficient and inefficient for solving KE problems under dynamic and uncertain environments. The paper concludes by presenting a strong argument as to why soft systems methodology is best suited for constructing knowledge base systems (KBS) in a spatially distributed, unstructured and shared domain specific context. Keyword:Knowledge-Based SystemsKnowledge EngineeringExpert SystemsSoft Systems Methodology Copyright  201x Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science. All rights reserved. Corresponding Author:Franklyn Chukwunonso,Department of Information Systems,Faculty of Computing,Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia.Email: fchukwunonso2@live.utm.my 1 INTRODUCTIONKnowledge engineering originated in the 1970s out of expert systems, following the need for a systematic method to build knowledge-based systems (as it w as referred to in the early days). [1] first defined knowledge engineering as the process of reducing knowledge from a large body into a set of precise rules and facts. This definition was extended by [2] to include the necessity for gaining more understanding of the characteristics of expertise in itself as well as understand how this knowledge can be applied in eliciting expert knowledge in domain-specific contexts. As noted by [3], the early application of expert systems in knowledge engineering had a lot of setbacks due to its unstructured nature. Several attempts have been made in the past as to how to overcome this bottleneck especially in the area of knowledge elicitation. The initial purpose of knowledge elicitation was aimed at transferring expertise knowledge to the knowledge engineer in the field of software development [4]. Though some of the results of previous researches looked promising, the challenge of transferring technology from AI to developing KBSs proved aborti ve. [5] attributed these failures largely to small natures of KBSs developed thereby making it difficult to explore the feasibility of different methodological approaches. The complexity of the problem is directly connected to the challenge faced in the late 1960s during the "software crisisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ , when the methods used for constructing traditional software system prototypes could not scale up to designing and maintaining large and sustainable commercial software for solving real life problems, which later led to establishing Software Engineering as a discipline. In the same vein, KE discipline was established for the primary purpose of transforming the processes involved in KBSà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s construction from an art to an engineering discipline in order to create a better analysis and understanding of the processes involved in building and maintaining KBSs, and to develop suitable methods, specialized tools and languages for the construction of KBSs. The rest of the paper is therefore structured as follows: Section 2 takes a critical look at the concept of knowledge role in KE. Section 3 briefly discusses the selection criteria methods employed for the study. Section 4 discusses findings of the literature review and Section 5 concludes the study, stating its limitations and areas of further studies. 2 STUDY BACKGROUNDIn the early days, expert systems were used to separate domain knowledge from general reason to form sets of knowledge base rules. In the early 1980s, several studies identified setbacks to this approach and proposed the use of a systematic approach to KE. [6] noted that there are different levels at which knowledge is attained and that it should be considered when solving knowledge-based tasks. He posits that the knowledge level, which is higher than the symbolic level, addresses issues regarding knowledge representation such as why a system or agent performs an action independent from logic, symbolic frames or rules (symbolic level of kn owledge). Currently, these description used by [6] at the knowledge level has since been the basic principles on which knowledge engineering is founded, and has provoked several other studies such as [7] in this regard. [8], [9] and [10] distinguished between the different types of knowledge in a knowledge-based system and in a related study, [11] provided a heuristic classification of the standard patterns used in solving knowledge-level problems [12]. Their findings later became very useful in solving knowledge engineering problems related to task knowledge. The 1990s saw a shift in focus from task knowledge to domain knowledge. Knowledge representation took center stage with ontology approaches becoming widely used for representing knowledge [13-14]. The increased use of ontologies for concept sharing in a distributed knowledge domain like the World Wide Web (WWW) led to the development of several modelling languages including Ontology Web Language (OWL) presently used in semanti c web. Also, these modelling domain languages make use of patterns like in task knowledge.Knowledge role can be simply defined as the role a particular knowledge domain plays in solving a particular problem [9]. This helps in structuring the problem by imposing constraints on the way a particular knowledge domain may be used in the course of reasoning, thereby increasing the feasibility of the problem solving process, unlike the uniform reasoning method used in the traditional expert systems where one large knowledge base applies to all [15]. Some examples of knowledge role commonly used in assessment method include decision, norm, and case data. [16], in his review of KE techniques, recommended [17] Personal Construct Psychology (PCP), automated by [18] and modified by [19]. PCP presents a model that addresses the unstructured nature of human psychology in representing, acquiring, and processing of knowledge. He argues that PEGASUS, a computer program developed by [20-21] were more suitable for encoding aspect of human reasoning based on the vocabulary of experts into formal concepts and structured knowledge. [22] also asserted to this by suggesting it could also be used in teaching by allowing other teachers make use of one expertà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s vocabulary in same way as the expert (teacher in this case). The major setback with this technique though is that it bridges the principles of psychology used in PCP with its logics and systemic principles when producing a framework for KE. Also, [23] noted that verbal reports had no correlation with mental behavior in his study on psychologistà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s attitude towards verbal data from patients. Furthermore, the hierarchy employed by PCP assumes a strongly formal and idiosynchratic postulation based on uniformity. This is wrong in the notion of soft systems, which assumes that there is no valid "right answer" for all situations, in other words, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. 3 METHODOLOGYThe literature rev iew was based on the structure provided by [24]. The study adopted the guidelines stated by [25]. The review was framed by the questions which this research tried to answer and influenced the search criteria employed for the study. The research questions covered five different subdomains of KE based on the scope of and objective of this study which bordered on the knowledge role concept, knowledge elicitation techniques, and ontological approaches employed in knowledge engineering for the construction of knowledge-based systems (KBSs). The research questions are: a) What are the current knowledge elicitation techniques employed in KE? b) What are the current methodological approaches used in KE? c) What role does Ontology play in KE? d) What special features distinguishes KE from other disciplines? and e) Why is SSM considered as the most suitable and efficient method for KE problem-solving in a spatially distributed and shared domain specific context? In conducting this literature review, both journal and conference articles were sourced manually from several online databases and selected based on the criteria stated above, through a multi-step manual filtering process with independent validation at each step. Duplications and overlapping of selected papers were manually sorted out. The use of manual processes ensured rigor, relevance and credibility was maintained during the selection process. The full texts of selected papers were then independently analyzed by the researchers to ensure it meets the quality assessment criteria presented in Table 1, for inclusion. This was also used to validate the articles selected for this review study.Table 1. Quality Criteria [25]1 Is the paper based on research (or is it merely a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"lessons learned" report based on expert opinion)? 2 Is there a clear statement of...

The 2007-2008 Financial Crisis Causes, Impacts and the...

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Financial Application Package Reckon in Australia

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Its current challenges mostly have to do with Payroll update and the problems are detailed. Reckon has many competitive advantages in the form of its products Reckon One and QuickBooks over its competitors like MYOB, Xero, Intuit, among others. Recommendations are made based on the challenges faced by the latest Payroll update, and user friendliness of the software. Literature Review History Going back all the way to 1987, Reckon was founded with a loan against an old Holden Commodore car and a credit card that was maxed out. It was the start of a small business. In 1993 personal financing software was released by Reckon dubbed as Reckon Quicken in Australia, and history was made. The Australian market saw business software being released in 1994 called Reckon QuickBooks. By 1998 Reckon expanded its business to Singapore and New Zealand. On 19th July 1999, the Australian Stock Exchange saw the stock price rise to 167% premium (Reckon Australia 2016). Reckon QuickBooks was selected by the PC Magazine as the Editors choice in 2000. In 2002 integration between Microsoft Office and Reckon QuickBooks was established through a strategic partnership with Microsoft. 2004 saw the acquisition of APS by Reckon. In the same year, Reckon QuickBooks was named Best Small Business Accounting Package by PC Users Top 100 products review. By 2006, Desktop Super, and Elite, which was tax so lution and small practice management was bought by Reckon. To start helping business with new company registration, Reckon bought Shelco. 2009 was a significant milestone for Reckon when it released Reckon Docs, used for business registration, and Reckon Billback, used by top law firms. The same year also saw a release of QuickBooks Hosted (Reckon Accounts Hosted as it is now called). In 2012 Reckon bought Virtual Cabinet online document management and Lindenhouse and renamed Quicken and QuickBooks. In 2013 Reckon SyncDirect was released. 2014 saw the end of the relationship of Reckon with Intuit Inc, USA, and the brand QuickBooks could no longer be reused (Allert 2015). 2016 saw the acquisition of SmartVault online document management; Reckon One Payroll module was released. The same year also saw the release of Reckon One online financial software launch in the UK. It has also launched Rocket Loans, in partnership with Prospa, a Deloitte Fast 50 winner. Development and Adoption Reckon One software has many happy customers in its testimonial. It provided customers the affordability to pay for the features they would use, which was quite useful for those running small businesses and wanted an easy way to watch financial report and the performance of their business. By utilizing the bank feed module and the built-in simple reporting, companies found huge cost savings in bookkeeping expenses (Reckon Australia 2016). When Reckon One adopted cloud computing, the companies saw taking more control over their finances. The invoices were emailed to the clients on the spot, they could run and view reports, and the dashboard view gave them a lot of control over their business, which increased productivity. As stated by Hossack (2015), Reckon was founded by Greg Wilkinson with a maxed-out credit card and a loan against an old Holden Commodore car 30 years ago. It currently employs over 500 people and is publicly listed on Australian Stock Exchange with good financial records. Even then, the company is still led by the entrepreneurial spirit and excitement that led to its inception. The company also employs futurists, designers and coders and a network of over 6000 partners in their active customer base (Fool.com.au 2016). Their aim is to move forward while doing continuous innovation. They have established themselves as the market leader in the following three core areas: Practice Management, Document Management and Business Solutions. Current Market Size Reckon APS, which is a practice management software after it has migrated to cloud it took a step ahead in the competition globe (Reckon Australia 2016). It is used for Practice Management and is used by 70% of the top 100 accounting firms and other leading legal firms across the. Reckons document management solutions like Reckon VirtualCabinet (for enterprises) and Reckon SmartVault (for professionals) have seen incredible growth (Smartvault.com 2016). Through this software over 560,000 documents were shared with users and used by more than 48,000 customers. Reckons software is utilized by thousands of businesses across the world. The company is also looking forward to their next-generation accounting software, which is Reckon One, and Reckon Loans for small business learning venture (Reckon Australia 2016). Present leaders in the market Currently, there are many financial software packages available in the Australian market for business managers to control their financial reports and records. There is free accounting software which requires no cost, but among paid options, there are some leading ones like MYOB, Intuit, Sage, Quicken/QuickBooks, Xero online, Cashflow Manager, Nominal, and Saasu. MYOB is battling for supremacy in the financial cloud market and confirmed details of its IPO in April. Intuit and Xero have opened their cloud services for the bookkeeping industry (Businessinsider.com.au 2016). Competitive advantage Every product of Reckon offers its set of benefits. Quickbooks, which is hosted by Reckon Online includes all the main functionalities with the ability to access data files of the company anytime and anywhere, resulting in improved productivity and efficiency. Other features that give it an edge ahead of its competition are Real-time BAS lodgement, automatic backup and disaster recovery, multi-company reporting, industry tailored solutions and more (cutcher.com.au 2016). Reckon One, the cloud accounting software can do far more than just business accounts. It provides flexibility by offering the modular approach, which means users can opt for any number of features they want and turn them off when they are not needed (Allert 2016).. Other features offered are invoice reminders for pending invoices, collaboration among users, mobility, syncing with bank feeds, has guaranteed compliance, better security with professional grade security technology and helps prevent fraud. Current Challenges Encountered and Literature Gap With the announcement that the 101 release of Payroll and enhancements to be delivered, it may come with not so good functionalities (Liburd et al. 2014). Payroll is one such feature where many small users struggle and the more user-friendly, the less complicated it gets. The current challenges are: It does not integrate Payroll values into the BAS reports. Navigation features of User Experience are still in need of more polish. General ledger posting accounts specification is very limited. Compared to MYOB Essentials, it used preset defaults without the need of any specification. The current process is quite complex when it comes to recording leave for employees and opening balances of pay. The Standard Pay Items are not preloaded and are to be setup from scratch (BIT 2016). Reckon One is lagging by two years behind Xero regarding add-ons and features and seven years in development hours, and by ten years behind Intuit regarding development time, but the gap is closing fast by releasing their updated payroll module (Growthpath.com.au 2016). Conclusion Reckon, the financial accounting software package company, may not be in the same league with MYOB, but it has certainly evolved a lot through acquisitions, a release of accounting products and re-brandings of its products over the years from its humble inception in 1987. The company still maintains the entrepreneurial spirit that led to its current success. Its development took an edge when it moved towards cloud computing with its product Reckon One, which offered some advantages of using cloud application and more. Its current market size explains itself with its Reckon SmartVault software used by 48,000 customers, and Reckon APS, which is by top 70 accounting firms across the globe. Its competitors are MYOB, Intuit, Xero, and more, but Reckon has been quite steady. It still has some payroll features to iron out which limits it from coming on to the top. Recommendations Reckon needs to focus on the userfriendliness of the Payroll system because small business depends on it as it is the only thing they struggle with. It needs to load preset defaults without the need of a specification like MYOB. Opening and closing balances must be quite simpler. References Allert, S. 2015.The accounting industry is changing - whether you're ready or not. [online] Accountantsdaily.com.au. Available at: https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/columns/8104-technology-driving-change-for-accountants [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. Allert, S. 2016.15 Little Known Benefits of cloud Accounting Software. [online] Blog.reckon.com. Available at: https://blog.reckon.com/15-little-known-benefits-of-cloud-accounting-software [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. BIT. 2016.7 accounting packages for Australian small businesses compared: including MYOB, QuickBooks Online, Reckon, Xero. [online] Available at: https://www.bit.com.au/Review/344651,7-accounting-packages-for-australian-small-businesses-compared-including-myob-quickbooks-online-reckon-xero.aspx [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. Businessinsider.com.au. 2016. [online] Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/charts-the-battle-for-supremacy-in-australias-cloud-accounting-market-2015-4 [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. cutcher.com.au.2016. [online] Available at: https://www.cutcher.com.au/files/docs/software%20flyers/reckon%20online%20for%20pc.pdf [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. Liburd, J., Chitayat, S., Crawley, S. W., Munro, K., Miller, E., Denis, C. M., ... Smith, S. P. 2014. Structure of the small Dictyostelium discoideum myosin light chain MlcB provides insights into MyoB IQ motif recognition.Journal of Biological Chemistry,289(24), 17030-17042. Fool.com.au. 2016.ASX:RKN (Reckon Ltd.) | Motley Fool Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.fool.com.au/tickers/asx-rkn/ [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. Growthpath.com.au. 2016.Review of Cloud Accounting (Xero, Saasu, MYOB Essentials, QuickBooks) | Business IT. [online] Available at: https://www.growthpath.com.au/Business-IT/review-of-myob-liveaccounts-and-xero-accounting-in-the-cloud.html [Accessed 3 Sep. 2016]. Hossack, S., 2015. Cloud-based accounting and productivity tools for practitioners and taxpayers.Taxation in Australia,50(5), p.265. Reckon Australia. 2016.About Us | Reckon. [online] Available at: https://www.reckon.com/au/about-us/ [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. Reckon Australia. 2016.AP- Reckon Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.reckon.com/au/aps/ [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. Reckon Australia. 2016.Timeline of our history | Reckon. [online] Available at: https://www.reckon.com/au/reckon-history/ [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. Smartvault.com. 2016.Reckon acquires SmartVault Corporation (USA). [online] Available at: https://www.smartvault.com/blog/2016/reckon-acquires-smartvault-corporation-usa/ [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016].

Analysis on Ethan Frome Essay Example

Analysis on Ethan Frome Paper Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light. Albert Schweitzer. Ethan Frome who takes care of his ill wife becomes very attracted with his wifes sister and must choose whether or not to express his feelings. Individual responsibility is the obstacle when dealing with ones free will. This will be shown by analyzing, Ethans choices of individual responsibility and free will. Ethan, from Starkfield New England is a poor farmer who is taking care of his ill wife Zeena. Zeena had always been what Starkfield had called sickly (pg 35). She suffered from asthma and other complications. People struggled for years with troubles, but they always succumbed to complications (pg 108. ) Ethan felt it was his obligation to take care of his ill wife as they had been married for seven years. When they married they agreed as soon as he could straighten out the difficulties, he would sell the farm and saw mill and try their luck in a large town (pg 71). It was believed that her sickness was derived from the effect of life on the farm, or perhaps, as she sometimes said, it was because Ethan never listened (pg 72). We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis on Ethan Frome specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis on Ethan Frome specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis on Ethan Frome specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Due to this Ethan felt it was his responsibility to take care of his wife. Zeena had been trying hard to get help as she occasionally left town to seek medical assistance. Ethan had grown to dread these situations because of their cost (pg. 62). Zeena had always returned with expensive remedies that were promising but never ended up working. Ethan felt his commitment of marriage was enough for him to believe that it was possible for his wife to re-cooperate from her illness and return to a normal life. While Ethan was taking care of Zeena, it was suggested that they should acquire more assistance due to his wifes health. Mattie Silver came from Stamford, and when she entered the Fromes household to act as her cousin Zeenas aid it was thought best, as she came without pay (pg 32). Ethan had taken a liking to the girl from the first day (pg 32). Mattie took pressure and stress of Ethans workload and everyday chores and basically rekindled his spirit of love. It was a fact since Mattie Silvers coming he had taken to shaving every day (pg 39). They both had gained strong feelings for each other but did not want or feel it was right for them to be expressed. One day however when walking back home from the village Mattie stumbled on an unseen object and clutched onto Ethans sleeve to steady herself. The wave of warmth that went through him was like the prolongation of his vision. For the first he stole his arm about, and she did not resist (pg 50). From that point on the both of them became more fond of each other and showed their feelings more openly to each other. One day when Zeena left town for medical reasons Mattie had attempted to do something special for Ethan by preparing him a special meal. To be used in this special meal was Zeenas pickle dish, which was only used on special occasions. Sitting at dinner the cat had backed into pickle dish, which fell to the floor with a crash (pg 85). This can be seen as the couples dream falling to pieces and not being able to be repaired as the next night Zeena had returned and she ordered that Mattie leave as Zeena required someone with medical experience. When Ethan and Zeena confronted each other it was the first sign of open anger between the couple in the sad seven years together (pg 112). He could not picture himself living without Mattie and had to choose whether or not to stay with his wife or follow his heart and go with Mattie. Ethan could not exercise his free will and be with Mattie as his individual responsibility was dealing with that of Zeena which he felt he could not abandon. Ethan had always wanted the best for his wife Zeena but she would have to come to the realization that youre a poor mans wife (pg 114). It would be impossible for him to hire a trained medical aid as the funds just were not there. Ethan felt his free will was put to the test when Zeena had ordered that Mattie leave. Ethan than realized that he could not live with out her. The night when Ethan escorts Mattie to town to catch her train they think of the idea of leaving and going West. Ethan had always dreamed of the idea but came to the conclusion that he could not leave his ill wife. Im tied hand and foot, Matt. There isnt a thing that I can do (pg 158). Before they departed Ethan wanted to do one more thing Mattie and that was take her coasting or tobogganing. While tobogganing Ethan had came into confusion as a suicide pact was suggested as they went for their last turn down the hill. They were attempting to hit a huge Elm tree but right before they hit Ethan had suddenly seen his wifes face with twisted monstrous lineaments, thrust itself between him and his goal, and he made an instinctive movement to brush it aside (pg 170). which caused Ethan to just hit the tree ever so slightly not to kill them but to injure them severely. Ethans feels his individual responsibility to Zeena must be taken care of first before he can have any life with Mattie. It is important that ones individual responsibility is taking care of first before attempting to pursue ones free will as it will cause a major obstacles and conflicts if striving to make the both co-exist. Ethans problem of choosing who he loved could have been resolved if he stuck with his individual responsibility and helped his wife back to good health.

Akeelah and the Bee Essay Essays

Akeelah and the Bee Essay Essays Akeelah and the Bee Essay Paper Akeelah and the Bee Essay Paper Akeelah Anderson is a immature. 11 twelvemonth old school-age child who is a littlemature and learns at the school of Crenshaw Middle School. She hasdeveloped many new alterations from the beginning of the film until the terminal. Towards the beginning of this narrative. Akeelah was merely a normal schoolgirl. Well. normal significance that she went to school merely like everybody. Although. she wasn’t making rather good in her surveies. First of all. she barely of all time turnedin half of her prep! The instructors at Crenshaw surely didn’t have acrave at all for Akeelah’s pathetic survey wonts. Following. she was accused ofskipping categories which of class. she did but claimed she merely skipped thephysical instruction. or PE categories. True. on her trials she would stand out everytime. Akeelah would neer lose a spelling word and would invariably acquire a large. ruddy A+ marked on her paper. Unfortunately. her attending wasn’t desired. as she was belated about every twenty-four hours. Akeelah Anderson was non a really polite miss towards her schoolmates orfamily members. It was her manner whether you liked it or non. If it was difficult. Akeelah wouldn’t privation to make it ; if it was easy. she’d take it into consideration. She had an attitude that wasn’t proper and was disliked. The manner she talked. slang and all. made the instructors around her get 2nd ideas about her. She was ever described as holding possible but non holding any desire ineducation. She failed. at the beginning. to larn that school should alwayscome up foremost before winning any spelling bee. Akeelah Anderson. in myopinion. gave up excessively many times even though the people who fought for herto win cheered her on. During the spelling bee at her school. Akeelah would easy acquire distractedfrom people who would badger her. She didn’t cognize how to stand up forherself but merely fought alternatively of work outing the struggle with good manners. She learns how to stand up for herself when her brother says to her. â€Å"C’monAkeelah. make the spelling bee for Dad. † Akeelah first refuses to vie inthe spelling bee but when she hears that she should make it for her deadfather. she instantly wants to vie. Akeelah Anderson hardly is positive at the beginning of the narrative. Shebarely smiled or laughed at people. When she eventually meets Dr. Larabee. andhe commands her to halt speech production slang. Akeelah’s reply is. † Whatever. †Akeelah hasn’t yet learned how to act with proper manners to an adultespecially one who lost a loved 1. He calls her an impudent kid. andAkeelah hatreds to be called like that. She all of a sudden becomes ill-mannered and talksback to Mr. Larabee. There is a point where Akeelah says her sorry but shedidn’t truly intend it as she stomps off off to her house. When it comes to the Los Angeles School District Spelling Bee. she is stillshy within her milieus. She hasn’t learned yet how to get the better of herfears though finally. Dr. Larabee will. The fact that has been teasing herparents and school staff is that Akeelah merely worries and cares about thespelling bee. Surveies come after spelling bees is Akeelah’s manner of looking atthings. The people who inspired Akeelah to alter her manner and personality wereseveral characters. One of them was Mr. Larabee who helps her to beconfident and non to allow anything acquire in her manner. She starts assuring non tospeak any longer slang. and this is the clip when she genuinely apologizes for theinsult incident that she had created yearss earlier. Mr. Larabee could bedescribed like another male parent for Akeelah Anderson because he neer lether to believe that she was an unemployed also-ran. It was ever positive for him. Georgia. Javier. and Dylan contributed a batch to doing Akeelah alteration hermanners and behaviour. Javier. a spelling bee friend of Akeelah’s. helps her toconcentrate more on her surveies. and he truly puts a bright visible radiation in front ofher significance that he ever makes her smile. In the beginning of the narrative. she would barely smile and believe in herself but with the true religion of herbee friend. Javier. she learned self-respect. In add-on. the manner thatJavier stalled during the spelling bee merely to wait for Akeelah to come backfrom the talk by her ma was merely outstanding work. I mean. Javierdidn’t even win the spelling bee. and he was the 1 who could havemotivated Akeelah into being the reflecting star for everyone and winning thebee. alongside with Dylan. Dylan. the individual who was the other rival of the spelling bee. contributed tonss to Akeelah’s alteration of personality. He gave her confidenceto radiance in the spelling bee since he was her opposition. Since he knew morewords. he gave Akeelah the assurance to larn five-thousand words byherself to win the spelling bee. Now. Akeelah’s best friend Georgia was ahuge impact to Akeelah. She was that best friend who would ever motivateAkeelah by stating her that she can make things even when Akeelah herselfthought she couldn’t. Georgia allowed Akeelah to construct more self-confidenceand to win the spelling bee by her positive comments. Yes. Akeelah the Bee was still an speculative and bombinating kid throughoutthe film. but that was natural. The people who stood beside Akeelahallowed her to derive many things such as assurance and motive. Whetherit was her manager Mr. Larabee. her best friends. Georgia. Javier. Dylan or hermom and pa. she ever knew how to reflect and make what was best for her. Many times Akeelah refused to make things in the beginning and gave up manytoo times. but her friends stood by her side whether it was Akeelah’s toughmoments or easy 1s. They inspired her to travel through all the manner for thespelling bee. and her ma even motivated her to win the spelling bee. Thisspelling bee was Akeelah’s merely opportunity to win it. as she was about traveling todrop out since she did non obey her female parent. Akeelah changed her personalityand manners so that everyone around her would love her. and that was true. Akeelah neer stopped bombinating like a true spelling title-holder bee. Bibliographies: Akeelah and the Bee

Why is Bill Gates a successful leader Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Why is Bill Gates a successful leader - Essay Example Through his innovative ideas, constant hard-work and extraordinary leadership skills he has achieved tremendous success and fame. His exceptional example is given in various management courses and his wise quotes are used to motivate and direct individuals around the world. Bill Gates exemplary leadership is dependent upon many steps that he has consciously adopted. 1. A Clear Vision Bill Gates knows that in order to move forward he can leave no man behind, to ensure this he has a clear vision not only in his mind but he also makes certain to pass it on to his employees. He sets a clear standard, an exact measurement of what is expected from them. By saying inspiring expressions like, Every house and business must run on Microsoft software, or a computer on every desktop, he provides an unambiguous picture to his employees of exactly what is expected of them. This helps clear misconceptions and misunderstandings and provides refreshing clarity to employees. He has set a standard for them, they can easily envision it and therefore achieving it becomes easier. (Samson, Danny, and Daft 17) 2. Empowering Employees After giving his employees a clear goal, Bill Gates ensures that his employees have the power to achieve them. He is heard to say on several occasions that leaders are those who have the ability to empower others.By exercising leadership through a participative style he ensures that employees at all levels are involved in decision making. Everyone provides their valuable input and contributes to providing the best solution. He is very positive in his attitude and energizes his employees and pushes them to achieve more than they think they are capable off hence promising success for Microsoft. 3. It’s Okay to Make Mistakes People who work for Bill Gates are fearless and confident. They take risks and have the ability to think out of the box because he never discourages them. Bill Gates is a staunch believer of the philosophy that mistakes and failur es are important contributors to success. He is constantly ensuring his employees that they should not be afraid of making mistakes. He went so far as to say on one occasion that, unhappy customers are the greatest source of learning. Such a positive and open attitude affirms employee beliefs that they will not be punished if they do something wrong therefore being more confident in themselves and their jobs. Such confidence makes the work environment not only positive but also fun where employees go an extra mile to achieve results. The 2007 version of Microsoft Office that has become so popular was a design put forward by an IT technician. Even though this idea is a complete opposite of Bill Gates original design the employee had confidence that she could discuss her idea with Bill Gates without any fear of offending him. This is an excellent example of the confidence that Microsoft employees have and how this confidence gets translated into astounding achievements for the organiz ation. (7 Key Lessons from a Greatest Leader of all times - Bill Gates | Life of Excellence) 4. Appreciating Employees Bill Gates is not that stereotypical boss who sweeps in at the end of the day and takes credit for all the work. He appreciates his employee’s efforts and whenever necessary makes it popular that his employees are his main strength and the greatest factor contributing to Microsoft’s success. He personally interacts with employees to find out who is doing what, offers solutions to problems and gives praise without a second thought. His admiration of employee work and ideas is positive reinforcement that encourages employees to work harder and harder, because they know that their efforts are not wasted. (Manager's Role in Successful Motivation: